Immovable Object
by Golum936
Summary: "A true man dreams at least once in his lifetime to do one of two things, to be the strongest man in the world or to have the strength to conquer it." - Unknown AU Self-Insert / SI
1. Prologue

**Chapter 1 (Updated)  
**

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"_**A true man dreams at least once in his lifetime to do one of two things, to be the strongest man in the world or to have the strength to conquer it." **_

_**- Unknown**_

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**Future**

Looking back I still wonder about what I could have done differently. Could I have chosen to just turn away from all this, from them? To leave those people... no, my people, to die at the hands of our enemies while choosing to run away and live? Would I have been able to live with that decision? Would I have been able to look in the mirror and not see a coward staring back?

But that is a moot point, there is no going back for me, not anymore. I will either succeed and become closer than ever to my ambition or die and be washed away in sands of time. I have trained myself for this my whole life, yet it still feels like I'm barely prepared. Well I always did imagine my death to be something special, who doesn't want to go out in the blaze of glory so to say. Fate certainly presented me with a chance to do just that, but she certainly made sure to do it in a very cruel way. But who am I to judge what fate has in store for me, I can only live and hope that I come out on top, but so far it does not look good.

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The Zhao forces that were approaching Kwan are over 50,000 strong and I currently have a 1,000 trained men. It will take a miracle to win this battle and that's why I will create a miracle, after all that's the least of it if I want to fulfill my ambition. Thankfully with my parents riding to the city of Bai, its approximately a day's ride on a horse. Bai is currently an important location, it's serves as a temporary supply depot and therefore has a big garrison of 25,000, with my family's warning it should take them around 3 days to get here.

Kwan is is just a minor city, with the population of 10,000 but with invasion happening I had to send out message to all surrounding areas for civilians to hide within walls of Kwan. Now with civilians from all surrounding countryside the population swelled to 30,000 including woman and children. While not a big population even in this time period, it is big considered big for a small city like Kwan and is proof of its prosperity.

I wondered how I can hold Kwan for 3 days while waiting for reinforcements to arrive? Answer is simple, with blood, lots of it. I will have to draft civilians, which will be relatively easy since most of them don't wish to die. I will arm civilians with bows, javelins and shields, they'll hit someone easily since there are over 50,000 Zhao soldiers and shields will prolong their lives. Zhao might not have the best army among all states, but its nothing to scoff at, especially with their numerical advantage.

With Zhao forces attacking us from the north and Wei forces approaching from the east, Qin has been losing ground very fast. Last I heard, general Ou Ki resupplied at Bai and went to engage Wei forces to north-east of Kwan, but that has been over a week ago. At this point in time Kwan is the only thing standing between Zhao forces and Bai. Bai is very important right now for most of the Qin forces fighting in the north. If Kwan falls then there will be nothing stopping them from raiding the supply routes. This will result in Qin forces having to split and send more units to guard supply routes or in worst case scenario retreating to secure another supply depot. Therefore I must hold Kwan at all costs, otherwise it will result in Wei and Zhao regaining almost all of the land that Qin previously conquered and that will set Qin behind other states for many years. In other words, Wei and Zhao have proved to be an unstoppable force together. Well guess what, unstoppable force meet the immovable object by the name of **Yang Jin**.

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**Three Days Later**

When general Ou Ki, his army and garrison from Bai were arriving to the city of Kwan they expected to see a ruin or a city flying colors of Zhao. What they saw was a gruesome sight, all 50,000 soldiers of Zhao soldiers were being gathered in a huge pile. On top of that pile sat a child wearing an armor and holding a halberd that was leaning on his right shoulder, on top of the halberd was a head of the enemy general. As the soldiers started to arrive, the boy turned his head and looked down upon the arriving army, even Ou Ki a veteran of many battles felt as if he was being watched by a predator when he looked into that child's eyes.

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**Far future  
**

'Ri Boku, you arrogant fool, you really think that you and your coalition can do anything to conquer Qin while I still draw breath.' though Yang Jin with a sneer clear on his face.

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As Ri Boku was observing the battlefield suddenly an army appeared from the mountains on the coalition's left flank.

'Impossible, no army can traverse those mountains! Unless?!' thought Ri Boku as he looked towards left flank. He knew that there was only one person who could pull something like this off, but he thought he would be busy dealing with barbarian tribes in the west. Soon after a messenger arrived and confirmed his worst fear, Yang Jin was here and he brought his whole army with him. This whole plan relied on the fact that he was busy subduing barbarian tribes to the west and wouldn't reach Kankoku Pass till the battle was already over.

'This changes everything.' as soon as he finished that thought he finally saw with his own eyes the most dreaded army in all of warring states as it cut swath through Zhao and Chu forces, with their general at the front.

While this army lacked cavalry due to need to traverse mountains, what it lacked in mobility it made up for in sheer brutality. Those red iron clad warriors at the front were seemingly impossible to stop, the sheer amount of armor on their bodies should make it impossible for them to move yet they moved with ease and swung their giant weapons. The infantry at sides formed impenetrable wall with their tall shields and made sure that any enemy that dared to come near did not live to regret it. The accuracy of the archers at the center were known throughout all warring states and today they lived up to that reputation. The unit at the back were the most feared, despised and undeniably powerful unit in the whole army of Yang Jin, the Death Legion. Made up of traitors, criminals and deserters, the Death Legion lived up to it's name as they slaughtered any enemy stragglers that were not stomped to death and anyone that approached them.

They seemed like an unstoppable wave that ripped to pieces everything in it's path, but the man at the front was the most feared general in all of Qin, possibly all warring states. Even the likes of general Ou Ki of Qin paled in comparison to the tactical genius and sheer brutality employed by this person. Wearing his infamous armor and wielding his seemingly unstoppable weapon, was Yang Jin. Ri Boku had previous experience fighting this person and he still remembered the humiliating defeat that was handed to him then. Some hailed him a genius for holding as long as he did, but he knew that he survived only because he **amused **him. He had a feeling that this time he won't be spared, so he had to hurry and stop him.

And as the enemy approached closer and closer, everyone heard one of the dreaded war chants that was signaling their doom.

"We have come to judge you!" roared Yang Jin.

**"Our judgment is death!" **his troops roared in response.

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**AN**

**Hope you enjoyed it so far, this is kind of like prologue so don't worry, a lot of stuff will be cleared up in the next chapter. Please leave a comment if you like the story.**


	2. A New Beginning

**Chapter 1 (Updated)  
**

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**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my original characters.**

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Yang Jin, first born to governor Yang Fu and his wife Yang Cai, was born in 270 BC in a city of Kwan in Qin. Warring states period was living up to its name and the land that will once be known as China was being ravaged by war. But while a birth of a child to a minor governor was hardly an event worth notice, it would prove to change history.

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Well being reincarnated into the body of a baby is a weird experience. I guess I should start to explain how something like this happened. One day, just like any other, I was just going about my business and going to work. Next thing I know I hear a loud screech and feel a heavy impact on my left side. I can deduce that I was hit by a speeding vehicle of some sort, or it sounded and certainly felt like it. But I tried to look at the bright side, I died as soon as I hit the building to my right and did not have time for any melodramatic moments to contemplate the meaning of life and what waits for you after death, so it was not all bad. No, it could have been much worse. But back to being a baby, I will spare you the details of how being born feels like. Let's just say I woke up to find myself wrapped in a tiny bundle in a hands of the woman I've never seen before.

She looked young, around 15 years old. She had black hair with two buns on the sides of her head and had a heart shaped face. She also had small lips, dark brown wide eyes and a slightly tanned skin, she was dressed in white robe. Next to her holding her hand and cooing at me was another person, a male teen to be precise, he looked around 16-17 years old. He had a handsome face, dark brown hair and bright brown eyes, he also wore a fancy looking blue robe.

Well universe or whoever brought me here, thank you for screwing with me like this, I was 21 years old when this happened. I'm older than my new parents, at least mentally. So thank you universe or whoever, you certainly have a flair to how you deal with a mere mortals like me.

It took my brain a few minutes to figure out everything that happened, while denial set in at first, including a pitiful attempts to pinch myself, I pushed it away to think on my next course of action. Or at least sometime in the future, because being in a baby's body does not offer a whole lot of choice on things one can do.

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**One month later**

Well turns out I'm in ancient China, kind of hard to not notice with how people around me dressed and talked. When I started to figure out when and where I was, I prayed to all gods that I knew of. I was hoping that it's not any one of any warring states periods that ancient China had, but my prayers were wasted. How did I know that? Well I am a dedicated fan of all things history and it's kinda hard to miss that giant Qin banner right outside my window, that let me know which specific warring states period I was in. But I mostly recognized it from the anime and manga, Kingdom, I finished watching and reading as far as it got a couple of days before the whole reincarnation thing.

One would thing that a fan like myself would be excited to be reborn into one of his favorite shows, but I was not amused at all. Kingdom is a good read and watch, but this time period is not a good place to be in. During this time period in China the concept of total war is still widely practiced, so in every major battle people died by tens of thousands. Not to mention that there are some seriously messed up people, like Haku Ki. Haku Ki was one of the Six Great Generals of Qin, he buried alive over 400,000 Zhao soldiers after they surrendered to him, according to manga it was because he did not have enough food to feed them. I'm not sure if that happened yet but from what I've seen from the map in my new father's study, Battle at Chouhei, a battle at the end of which Haku Ki committed his infamous deed, did not happen yet.

I also found out that my new name is Jin, I was born into a Yang family, in other words my new name Yang Jin, since here last name goes before first. From what I picked up so far it turns out I'm a firstborn and therefore also heir to the Yang family. I also figured out names of my new parents, my father's name is Yang Fu and my mother's is Yang Cai. Tuns out my father is a person of considerable power, from what I've seen so far, everyone bows to him and greets him with respect. I think he might be a governor of the city, which actually will explains a lot. While from what glimpses I caught, the city itself is tiny compared to New York, which is where I lived before this whole thing happened, it is of decent size. Well it's my new home now and Yang family is my new family now. I guess being a governor's son now, having that Bachelor degree in Business Administration and Management will really help me out. I just got to wait a few years before I can do anything, but I'm nothing if not patient.

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**AN**

**Its not really a self-insert, but an OC insert. But I became an avid reader of SI for a while now and wanted to try my hand at it. I'm trying to rush through the background stuff to get to good parts, but do it in a way that you will still understand everything.**

**Once again hope you enjoy it, please leave a comment.**


	3. Preparations

**Chapter 2 (Updated)  
**

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**Disclaimer: I own nothing except the original characters.**

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**10 years later**

**Yang Jin POV**

He couldn't believe that it has been so long since he came to this world. He has changed so much that he barely recognize himself. At first he didn't even noticed the changes, but as time went by the became more pronounced. Nowadays he spent most of his time studying and training for what he knows is coming. Campaign against Zhao has been going on for two years already. It will soon reached its climax and should result in victory for Qin. But he can't help but worry that his actions might have done something that will change the course of that battle.

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From the historical point of view, the Battle at Chouhei is the turning point for the state of Qin. Before that point in time, Zhao had one of the biggest military forces among all states and was considered to be one of the strongest. But due to the defeat dealt to them by Qin at Battle of Chouhei, it allowed Qin to take Zhao out of the picture. Zhao would never regain its former strength and that will give Qin some breathing room and eventually allow it to expand until eventually it conquered all other states.

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If he did anything that will change the result of Battle Chouhei than he will completely the history of this period and will not be able to predict many things that he needs to in order to survive and gain recognition. Yes, he decided that instead of just being satisfied with just being an inheritor to Yang family, he will make something of himself, and make sure that name Yang Jin is carved out in history. Having that goal is very important to him, since it let him concentrate on it and forget any other thoughts, without this dream he would have gone insane by now. Being a history buff gave him a lot of knowledge about both military and civil matters that will allow him to gain upper hand over competition. But the only way for him to get any serious recognition during this day and age is to become a famous general. To set himself unto that path he threw himself head first into his studies and training. As a result he was being hailed as a genius by his tutors in both civil and military studies. This is very important, because Qin abolished nobility and practices a meritocracy. In other words if he wants to get to the top he will have to climb there with his own two hands, instead of inheriting the position like nobles.

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During this age of warring states, the military still practices total war, which means a lot of things. If there is a call to arms and you're a male and of age then you are expected to come to the nearest rally point. You also have to buy your own weapons and armor, so as you can imagine the commoners did not have much of equipment at all, they're lucky if they can afford a decent sword. Only people who took part and survived in many battles were able to afford better equipment. The concept of professional army is practically non-existent and that was something he will use to his advantage. Also, in total war the distinction between military and normal civilians is very blurred, if you're part of state you're part of war effort. So if enemy state conquers you, you better pray that they do not simply displace or even exterminate the population. During this time the only professional military belongs to kings, nobles and wealthy families. Even then they're nowhere near up to standards of modern military. And that's one of the few times that I thank whatever or whoever brought me here for making me part of the Yang family.

While Yang family is small, consisting of only me and my parents, it used to be an old noble family line, which can trace its roots to many royal families. And while it does not have a lot of political influence, what it does have is a lot of money and respect and loyalty of the Kwan citizens. Yang family ruled the city of Kwan for generations, despite the numerous times it changed hands between several states. Yang family is respected by its citizens, because it always made sure that the civilians had food in their bellies, clothes on their backs and roofs over their heads. This has granted Kwan a stability and unblemished reputation and in turn attracted a fair number of people and in turn more merchants. Due to Yang family being business minded, they owned or invested into a lot of businesses and business ventures, this made Yang family extremely rich. What appalled me is the fact that they simply reinvest a small part of their fortune back into the city and hoard the rest in the treasury. Now don't get me wrong there was no embezzlement or corruption that I know of, Yang family simply hoarded most of the fortune it made through its businesses and business ventures instead of doing something with it. This opened doors for me to a lot more possibilities when I heard it from my parents for the first time.

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When I was around 8 years old I persuaded my father to give me access to the treasury, since he barely if ever used it during his whole life. Now normally if an eight year old would ask you for an access to a family treasury which had untold amount of money, you would refuse. But my father knew that I was more mature than someone my age was supposed to be and he trusted me. So I invested a small fortune into the city, like improving Kwan city's defenses and improve the equipment of the garrison. I hired the best blacksmiths I could find and made them all swear to secrecy under the penalty of death of both them and their family, that any project that I entrust them they are to take those secrets to their graves or only divulge them with my permission. While it might seem harsh, but the works I will have for them in the future could end in disaster if they ended up in my enemies hands. After several tries I successfully explained to them how to craft the armor and weapons similar to those used by the Roman Legions, instead of the piece of cloth, leather and tiny plates that current military calls armor. But I also hired personal guards for the family, in total I hired over 100 of them from all over the warring states. I took the most experienced of them and those who showed that they will stay loyal to me and my family instead money. After they passed the selection process and were hired I made sure to teach them a lot of things about what I wanted them to think was my vision for military. After they passed the rigorous training I put them through, I assigned about 50 of them to be made officers in garrison and told them how I want all soldiers to be drilled. Once again I borrowed a page from the Roman Legions and made sure all of them were trained in that style of fighting. Together with drills and occasional bandit incursion from surrounding areas gave both me and them a lot of practice and experience we needed. As a result of those things while Kwan does not have the biggest garrison in the region, we do have the best one.

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**AN:**

**Many thanks to all people who read my story, special thanks to Exar Kun IV, Noldea135 and darkcloudt2 for the reviews, you are awesome. **

**Don't worry about the lack of dialog it will be there in the next chapter. I'm just trying to get all the background stuff over with and soon we'll get to the juicy parts.**

**Once again please leave a review and let me know what you think.**


	4. Introductions

**Chapter 3 (Updated)  
**

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**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my original characters.**

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**Yang Jin POV**

As he looked over the city from the governor's mansion and watch dawn, he went over some of my plans for the future. According to reports he received, Ei Sei was born just a couple of days ago. He has big goals for the future and Ei Sei is a big part of them. In order to achieve those goals he had several ways which he can choose from. He can either plant myself firmly with his father Sou Jou's political camp and work together with Ryo Fui on bringing him back from Zhao and making him the King Of Qin. Or he can side with Ei Sei when he is back from Zhao and help him become King of Qin. Ei Sei and his parents are currently still held hostage in Zhao. After the lose at Battle of Chouhei, Zhao will release Sou Jou with some manipulation from Ryo Fui.

He had been receiving regular updates on the campaign against Zhao and so far it looks good for Qin. The Six Great Generals of Qin made short work of Zhao and the time for Battle of Chouhei is quickly approaching. As he continued his musings he was interrupted by the arrival of a two individuals.

"What are you doing out here so early in the morning Jin?" asked first person in a questioning tone.

"Our lord is probably thinking over his plans for the future, something that is a totally foreign concept to a brute like you." said second one in a mocking tone

"What?! I dare you to say that again to my face you girly looking bastard!" raged first one.

"Ma Cong, Zhu Fa. I see that you two are in high spirits today, good you're going to need them soon." he said in a cold tone without looking back at them.

"Has something happened lord Jin?" asked Zhu Fa, looking at me with concerned eyes.

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**Flashback – 4 Years**

**Zhu Fa POV**

Zhu Fa was a smart and handsome ,almost feminine, looking boy. He had black hair and hazel eyes that he inherited from his mother. He was currently looking through the window on the studies of the governor's son and tried to learn while taking down some notes on the ground. He was still astounded that a 6 year old was studying and seemingly easily grasping the complex material that was taught to him by his tutors. Even Zhu Fa who was his senior by 5 years and had trouble comprehending some of the concepts that were being taught.

He still remembered how A year ago Zhu Fa lost his parents to a bandit attack when they were on their way to Kwan.

**Mini Flashback – 1 Year**

His parents were merchants and this afforded him to have a good education and comfortable life style up until that point. Zhu Fa was hidden by his father in a grove and he told him: "Zhu Fa, listen to me, after bandits go away go towards Kwan and alert the garrison to bandit attack. If me and your mother don't make it just remember that we love you. I also want you to promise me that you will make something of yourself in the future." "F-f-father?" "Promise me!" "I promise." "Good, now hide and don't come out until you're sure that bandits are gone."

**Mini Flashback over**

After that Zhu Fa was living in Kwan city and making a living as a chore boy at the inn near the governor's mansion. Whenever he had free time he would sneak into the governor's mansion and look at the studies of the governor's young son. He was trying to learn what he could in order to fulfill his promise to his father.

While he was trying to learn he suddenly felt a strong hand grab the back if his neck.

"H-hey!" said Zhu Fa in a panicked tone.

"I knew I saw something, what are you doing in the governor's mansion boy?" asked guard in a demanding tone.

"What's going on?" asked governor's son, as he heard the commotion and looked through the window.

"Sorry for interrupting your studies young master, I caught this boy sneaking around, I think he might be a thief." said guard with a bow.

"What? No, I'm just trying to study I swear I wasn't going to steal anything, I swear." desperately pleaded Zhu Fa while looking at the governor's son.

"Thank you for your diligence, but you can let the boy go, I see some notes on the ground so he's probably telling the truth." said governor's son in an emotionless tone.

"If you say so young master, do you want me to escort him outside?" asked guard.

"No, leave him be." He looked towards Zhu Fa with narrowed eyes and asked "So you say you want to study? Well then come, you can study with me."

"Huh? A-a-are you sure? I mean not that I don't appreciate the offer, but are you really sure?" asked Zhu Fa while looking at governor's son with wide eyes.

"I wouldn't be asking you if I wasn't, now come, sunlight is being wasted and there is only so much of it in a day." confidently said governor's son with demanding tone.

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After the tutor finished the lecture, governor's son suddenly turned to him and asked "So what's you name?"

"Z-z-zhu Fa young master." said Zhu Fa with a stutter. While not a fan of addressing someone so much younger than him with such respect, it was a given regardless since he feared offending him.

"Zhu Fa, my name is Yang Jin, from your answers during the lecture I can say that you have a lot of potential, I can use that potential in the future. From now on come every day at down. You will study together with me." said Yang Jin in a tone that offered no room for refusal.

"T-t-thank you so much young master, I promise I won't disappoint you." said grateful Zhu Fa.

From that day on Zhu Fa studied together with Yang Jin and was even more impressed by him the more he got to know him.

Zhu Fa showed great promise in his studies, his wits and cunning were tempered by Yang Jin's wisdom and knowledge. Zhu Fa showed great promise as an adviser and strategist, especially since he got to know Yang Jin and earned his confidence. He still remembered that promise that he made to his father and he had a feeling that Yang Jin will go far in the future. After some time that he spent contemplating his position and future, he decided to throw his lot with Yang Jin and swore his loyalty to him.

**Flashback End**

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**Present**

**Normal POV**

"Yes, I got some reports from one of the outposts that a number of Zhao soldiers were sighted and are planning to gather east of here and start raiding merchants coming and leaving the city. They're probably getting desperate and trying to disrupt the supply lines. We're going to go there and deal with them before they become a problem." said Yang Jin in a cold tone.

"Ohhh, so young lord is leading another battle, I can't wait to see what you'll do this time." said Ma Cong with a bloodthirsty grin.

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**Flashback – 2 Years**

**Ma Cong POV**

Ma Cong was tough looking for a 16 years old boy, he had brown hair and brown eyes and was 6 ft. tall. He was once the best soldier in the whole garrison, that was until young lord Jin hired veteran soldiers from all over the warring states. He also hired all those master blacksmiths to craft new weapons and armors for the garrison, which were much better than the ones they had before, even if they were a little heavier. Young lord Jin's men also made sure that the garrison was trained in a different way of fighting and increased the discipline of the soldiers to a whole new level. Young lord Jin is a big figure for all the citizens of Kwan, not only being looked upon with respect for being a genius, but also loved for many of his endeavors to help citizens of Kwan. He invested into a lot of businesses, he was known for his fairness when judging criminals and he persuaded his father to lower taxes to attract more merchants. He recently built an orphanage with his families money and made sure that kids who go there not only clothed and fed but also educated. He also made sure that any kids that were in that orphanage received both civil and military training, so that in the future they can work for Kwan city, either as civil officials or military officers. Cong wished that he was born a little later, so that he could attend that orphanage, being an orphan himself and growing up on the streets he knew how valuable education was.

Ma Cong himself was not really sure what to think of young lord Jin, while the things he heard about him were all good, he wished to reserve his judgment until he met him in person. And that opportunity showed itself when young lord Jin decided to tour the villages surrounding the city of Kwan and inspect the future crops. Ma Cong was put in charge by the senior officers, was given 50 soldiers and was told that if something happened to young lord he will be held personally responsible. As you can guess that both made him puff out his chest in pride for being trusted with such important responsibility and become nervous at the prospect of failure.

When Ma Cong saw Yang Jin for the first time he was shocked, the boy was dressed in armor, had a huge halberd and was riding on a pure black steed. While the boy was barely eight years old, he had an emotionless face and had a piercing eyes. He also gave off heavy aura and that made him look much older and bigger than he really was. After Ma Cong greeted him he was further stunned when he looked in his eyes and felt like he was being looked at by a predator.

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After several days of touring the surrounding villages Ma Cong was sure that while Yang Jin looked and spoke with little emotion and had scary eyes, he was indeed a great individual and most of the rumors he heard about him were true.

Several hours after they departed from the last village and were headed for Kwan, they encountered a fallen tree in the middle of the road that was blocking the way. As the soldiers were about to go ahead and remove it, they were interrupted by their young lord.

"Wait, something's wrong." said young lord Jin, as he looked around.

"What's wrong young lord?" asked Ma Cong in a concerned tone.

"There is only one tree that fell and we saw no other signs of any other trees falling, that means only one thing. Someone deliberately put it there. Ambush!" - screamed young lord Jin as they all heard a war cries coming from all around them.

"Orbem Formate! (Circular Formation!)" said young lord in a commanding tone.

"Orbem Formate! (Circular Formation!)" repeated Ma Cong, as he got into his position, hoping that the rest of the soldiers will make it to formation in time.

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That was another thing that Yang Jin introduced, he personally made sure that all soldiers learned commands in Latin, so that enemies will not know what they are planning to do and counter it. Each of the commands meant different things, from holding position to taking a specific formation. Orbem Formate for example was a circular formation, with archers were in the middle and other infantryman gathered around them and formed a protective layer. Yang Jin explained that this was a formation used when soldiers were outnumbered and surrounded. It allowed them to either slowly decrease the number of their enemies until they could break through or wait for the reinforcements.

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No sooner did the soldiers finish forming formation that a large number of enemies erupted from surrounding trees.

"Iacera Pila! (Throw Pila/Javelins!)" ordered Ma Cong.

"Haaa!" roared soldiers as they threw their javelins at approaching enemies. Around 30 enemies fell prey to javelins, while their allies were stunned for a second they renewed their assault with thirst for vengeance. This caused some of the soldiers to freeze due to still not having experience with blood lust.

"Ciringite Frontem! (Hold your positions!/Stand your ground!)" ordered young lord Jin in a calm tone. The calm tone with which the command was said reassured the soldiers and discipline that was drilled into them finally set in, they shaken off their fear and held their position.

As the enemies approached closer and closer Ma Cong wondered if they will be able to hold them back, but he immediately discarded the thought and focused on battle ahead. As enemies approached they were further picked off by archers. Soon they crushed into their formation and with a great roar the soldiers in the front held their line. The discipline that was drilled into the soldiers did not allow them to falter, it did not allow them to give up. The soldiers remembered their training and slowly chanted like a mantra words that were beaten into their bodies.

**"Obsepio, ventilabis, pulso! ****Obsepio, ventilabis, pulso!** (Block, push, strike! **Block, push, strike!)**

And as more and more enemies approached, they were all slowly slaughtered, the big shields held by the soldiers in the front did not allow their enemies so much as scratch the soldiers who held them. The same could not be said for their enemies who were unprotected and were slowly killed by the easily maneuverable and deadly short swords of the soldiers. As the number of enemies started to lessen, the enemy were extremely demoralized by the one sided slaughter.

"Contentide Vestra Sponte! (Give no accord!) No survivors!" ordered their young lord and charged as soon as he saw that the enemy was faltering.

Heading the command of their young lord the soldiers took an aggressive stance, Ma Cong took out war axe from his back, and they started to attack all enemies in sight. What followed couldn't even be called a slaughter, it was a target practice for the soldiers. The training that they underwent brought them to a whole new level compared to their enemies. Every time soldiers saw an enemy swing their weapons at them, soldiers realized just how slow their enemies were, or more like how fast they themselves were. They now understood why when they asked their instructors why they trained them so hard, they said: "You sweat in peace to save your blood in war."

Ma Cong saw the way in which their young lord fought. It was in a way that made use of his being on a horse back and used the deadly reach of his weapon to make sure that any enemy that came close to him did not live to regret it. His halberd was always moving, each time he swung it more enemies died. The sight of their young lord fighting and killing their enemies in droves, inspired them to fight with more vigor.

Ma Cong saw the enemy officer trying and failing to calm down his soldiers. He charged for him and easily dodged or cut down the enemies that tried to stop him. As soon as the enemy officer was in his range, he cut him in two with his war axe. After that the enemies simply started to run, it took more effort to chase down and kill all of them then it took killing them. As soon as the last enemy was cut down, they heard the voice of their young lord.

"Halt! Ma Cong, our casualties?" asked lord Jin while looking him straight in the eyes.

While stunned for a moment that lord Jin even remembered his name, he recovered and looked around, then answered "Only a few scratches here and there young lord."

"Good, how many enemies were there and who were they?" asked lord Jin.

After Ma Cong looked around for a couple of minutes, he was shocked by both numbers and who they were "Lord Jin, there were around 150 of them and they look like they're soldiers from Zhao."

"Hmmm, so Zhao plans to start a war, they're probably a scouting party that were ordered to wipe out patrols to help main army slip into Qin unnoticed." said lord Jin while narrowing his eyes.

"Young lord we should get back to Kwan and warn the others" - asked Ma Cong.

"Yes, you're right. Gather the men, tell them they have five minutes to take what they want from the dead, then gather the bodies and burn them. After that we're going back to Kwan." ordered lord Jin.

"Young lord, looting from the dead?" hesitantly asked Ma Cong.

"They're dead Ma Cong, they can't take those items with them to the afterlife, so better that our men use them instead. We give them all respect that they need by burning their bodies instead of leaving them for animals to feed on." said young lord Jin in a tone that left no room for argument.

"I understand lord Jin." said Ma Cong in a resigned tone.

After they got back to Kwan they alerted all the patrols about possible ambushes and told to watch out, they also sent out a letter to the capital to warn them about Zhao. Soon after Yang Jin and Ma Cong developed a friendship, Ma Cong became Yang Jin's go to man when he wanted something done outside the walls, or to relay orders to his superiors. Soon after Ma Cong learned of Yang Jin's ambition to become a famous general and Ma Cong, knowing that Yang Jin was capable of it, decided to swear his loyalty to him then and there, he did not regret that choice since.

**Flashback End**

* * *

**Present**

**Normal POV**

"I guess you will, anyway, I want both of you to make sure that we're as ready as we can be. Zhu Fa I expect all supplies to be in order, Ma Cong I expect new recruits to be properly introduced to our form of worship." said Yang Jin in a light tone, as if he was telling an inside joke.

"As you wish." said Ma Cong with a huge grin on his face.

"Worship lord Jin? I did not know that you worshipped anything." wondered Zhu Fa.

Yang Jin turned around to face him with a sinister looking smirk on his face "Don't you know Zhu Fa? Drill is worship, worship to the gods of war."

* * *

**AN**

**Biggest chapter yet, please accept it as my thanks to all the people who read the story so far, especially thanks to people who reviewed, favorited and followed the story.**

**We're starting to get to the juicy parts, so expect lots of action in the next several chapters. **

**Please make sure to leave a review and let me know what you think.**


	5. No Fear, No Pity, No Remorse!

**Chapter 4 (Updated)  
**

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**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my original characters.**

* * *

**Two weeks later**

**Yang Jin POV**

It was time to set off, he was taking with him all the new recruits. He needed them to be ready when the time comes. It's better that they got some experience now, instead of later when they'll be fighting in the big battle.

"So how did the training go?" asked Yang Jin.

"It went perfectly, now they have some chances of surviving this battle." said Ma Cong with a smirk.

"Good, how do our supplies look?" asked Yang Jin while looking at Zhu Fa.

"Everything's prepared, we only need to load the supplies." said Zhu Fa.

* * *

**Later in the day**

**Normal POV**

They arrived at a clearing not far from where Zhao troops were gathering, in order to rest and make a more concrete plan now that they had more information from scouts.

"Are the troops ready?" asked Yang Jin.

"Yes everything is in place." said Ma Cong while looking at his lord.

"How many soldiers does Zhao have?" asked Yang Jin in a curios tone.

"About twice as many as we have, that's around a thousand." said Ma Cong in a cheerful tone as if being outnumbered was a good thing.

"Good, that means we can take them." said Yang Jin with confidence in his voice.

"Do they know we're here?" asked Zhu Fa while looking at Ma Cong.

"It doesn't look like it, I think we can take them by surprise." said Ma Cong with a grin.

"We won't even need to approach them." said Yang Jin with a slight smirk on his face.

"Hoooh and how do you plan to win this battle without approaching them?" asked Ma Cong in a curious tone.

"And that's why lord Jin made you a bloodthirsty brute like you a mere officer and me a strategist." said Zhu Fa with a mocking tone.

"What? Jin that's not true, is it?" asked Ma Cong while looking at Jin, Jin refused to meet his eyes. Jin still can't get used to a giant man like Ma Cong pouting.

"Stop making that disgusting face in presence of our lord! Whoever is leading them is incompetent fool, we're going to take the higher ground and rain death down upon them." said Zhu Fa with narrowed eyes while looking at the hill near the Zhao Camp.

"Ma Cong make sure new recruits are at the front and remember, no survivors." said Yang Jin in a cold tone.

"Isn't it a bit brutal for their first experience?" asked Ma Cong with concern in his voice.

"Yes, this shall make them or break them. And if they break, they had no place here from the beginning." said Zhu Fa.

"Enough! Its time for action, time for words is past." said Yang Jin with finality in his voice.

"As you command." - said Zhu Fa and Ma Cong in unison.

* * *

During the night most of the troops gathered not too far from the hill and 50 men were hidden in the direction opposite of the hill. As ordered new recruits were at the front. They were wondering if this was going to be a night raid but that notion was dismissed as soon as they were told to take ten javelins each. After they got into formation and got their javelins all the soldiers slowly realized the plan. Most of the new recruits paled and veterans looked at them with sympathetic eyes. Soon they saw their young lord ride up on his horse and stop in front of them. He was dressed in his armor and had his weapon with him, it was a halberd that was obviously made for a man twice Yang Jin's size yet he seemed to handle it with ease. On his left side was a red cloak with a golden sun surrounded by dragons, the symbol of the Yang family. As he looked down upon them many troops shivered under his gaze, it felt like those eyes looked into their very souls, they judged them and found them wanting.

"Most of you probably realized by now the plan for this battle and know that despite the fact the we are outnumbered this will be a one sided battle. What were you taught during your drills?" asked their young lord with narrowed eyes and ice in his voice.

**"No fear, no pity, no** **remorse!" **responded soldiers.

"That's right, always remember that and you will not go astray in battle." said Yang Jin in a warm tone and suddenly soldiers felt his eyes soften as if he was finally satisfied with them but quickly became hard again. He rode away from the front and stopped beside Ma Cong and Zhu Fa near the right side of troops. After that troops took their position on top of the hill and were preparing for what's to come.

"Iacera pila! (Throw Pila/Javelins!)" commanded Yang Jin and watched with hard eyes as **his** soldiers hurled the javelins at the enemy, while many of them were still asleep. While it did not sit well with him to attack a helpless opponent, that soft way of thinking had no place in war.

**"GAHHH!""WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!""MY LEG!""PHYSICIAN!""GAAHH""ATTA-GAHH"**

Jin watched as Zhao soldiers died on droves with every volley and heard them cry out in pain, but he hardened his heart knowing that this is only the beginning and that the path he chose only gets harder and more ugly from here. Most of them died with by the fifth volley, those who survived were running in the opposite direction and that's when the 50 soldiers that were hidden there struck. Orders of their young lord were clear. **No survivors!**

**Morning**

Yang Jin and his troops stood in front of a pile of burning bodies. He felt that he needed to explain to his soldiers why he was burning their bodies instead of leaving them to rot and being fed on by animals, something that many soldiers felt was a justified punishment for trying to attack their home and people. So he said in a hard voice while looking at them:

"Men, I want you to remember something. Hate your enemy in life but respect them in death."

* * *

**AN**

**Thank for reading once again guys, hope you liked it. I just noticed that my story reached over a hundred views, so I gave myself a pat on the back and promise that as a thanks I will soon give you a big battle scene that will last a few chapters. **

**Just for the future reference, you will notice me using a lot of quotes from different places. I just want to say that if you see a quote that sounds really good it's probably a variation of something someone said or exact replica, but that's what a disclaimer is for.**

**Also if you want to know what the armor of Yang Jin looks like, look up Lu Bu from Dynasty Warriors 7 and his weapon looks like Sky Piercer from the same series. I'm sorry I just couldn't resist, Lu Bu is just too badass.**


	6. Knowledge is Power, Guard it Well

**Chapter 5 (Updated)  
**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my original characters.**

* * *

**Yang Jin POV**

We were returning to the city, when we saw a large crowd. They were citizens of Kwan, they were here to greet us. They're also families of the soldiers, hoping to see their sons returning alive and well. When one of the soldiers declared that no one died, the crowd erupted in cheers, applause and started to chant my name. It was empowering and exhilarating to have so many people chanting your name. He felt as if he was on top of the world, yet he understood that this feeling was bought with the blood of his enemies. For a moment he felt ashamed yet that moment passed as fast as it came. This was his life from now on and he chose it for himself. So he smiled and waved, appreciating the feeling for what it was. He thought he prepared himself, but apparently he was still green. He knew that this feelings will go away in time, yet he's not sure that he want to lose them. As he was musing on those things he was interrupted by a tap on my shoulder.

"I know how you feel lord Jin, but it'll pass, trust me." said Ma Cong with a sad smile.

"I appreciate the sentiment Ma Cong, but I'll be fine." said he in calm tone.

"That's right you bloodthirsty brute, our lord does not need your comfort, he just needs you to keep swinging that axe of yours in the direction he points." mockingly said Zhu Fa with a smirk.

"You want to say that again to my face you feminine looking bastard?" challenged Ma Cong.

"Enough! Just smile and wave." said he. Those two did just that but still gave each other a stink eye. They can be so childish sometimes, it's a wonder that behind all those arguments they still respect each other when it truly matters.

"Look lord Jin your parents are here to greet us as well." said Zhu Fa and pointed at something in the distance.

And indeed he did see his parents, they were waiting for them right in front of the barracks. There was his father Yang Fu and his mother Yang Cai, they were now 27 and 25. Apparently they wanted to have more children, but he was the only child they had. That's why they were reluctant to let their only child choosing career in a military when he had so many other choices, but they supported him despite that and he will always be grateful for that.

"I see that you won your first real battle in a very impressive way my son, congratulations." said Yang Fu.

"I'm just glad that you returned alive and unharmed." said Yang Cai.

"Thank you father, mother." said he with a barely discernible smile on his face.

"I'm glad heavens blessed us with such a smart and strong child, but I'm still not sure why you want to be a great general." said his father.

"I hate war. In peace sons bury their father, but in war fathers bury their sons. So I plan to perfect the art of war, so that one day I may end it." said he in with a frown on his face.

"Haah, truly heavens blessed us with a wise yet troublesome child" said his mother with a smile on he face.

"Hahaha, that describes our son alright." cheerfully said his father.

"Ma Cong, Zhu Fa come and greet my parents." said he while gesturing them to come to the front.

"Greetings, Lord Yang, Lady Yang." said Cong and Fa in unison with respect in their voice.

"Hello to you too Ma Cong, Zhu Fa. Thank you for taking care of our troublesome son." said his mother.

"It's no problem at all Lady Yang, he's the one who takes care of us mostly." said Ma Cong with a smile.

"Indeed, lord Jin is wise beyond his years and we can only struggle to catch up to him." said Zhu Fa.

"That's our son alright, anyway we prepared a big feast for you and all the soldiers, go and dig in." said my father as he gestured towards the barracks.

"Your generosity knows no bounds Lord Yang." said Zhu Fa and Ma Cong in unison with a slight bow.

"Ma Cong, Zhu Fa take the soldiers with you and make sure that you two don't drink too much, I won't carry you both back again just because you're drunk again." said he in a teasing tone.

"It was only once." mumbled both Zhu Fa and Ma Cong and went to fulfill their orders.

* * *

After saying goodbye to his parents he went to the market, after seeing some of the wares, he approached a good looking despite being scarred merchant selling silk.

"Merchant, I seek the best silk and all the wares I see are not up to par, do you perhaps have better ones." said he while gesturing towards merchant's wares.

"Of course young lord, the best stuff is in the back, let me show you. Li, watch wares while I tend to this customer." said merchant while beckoning him inside.

"Lead the way." said he and followed merchant inside. After following merchant into the back of the building, they entered a room with a single desk, two chairs and no windows. Merchant quickly closed the door and locked it. After they sat down he looked at merchant and asked "So how was business in Zhao?"

"It was great thanks to your patronage and advice young lord. But I'm sure that's not why you came to talk to me." said merchant in a teasing tone.

"Lu Su, what did you find?" he asked in a serious voice with narrowed eyes. Lu Su is good looking man that has several scars all over his face, he has dark brown hair and brown eyes.

* * *

**Flashback**

He was seven when he found a collapsed man in the middle of the road, from what he deduced the man by looking at them was that the man was down on his luck, he was homeless and had barely eaten in several days. After he made sure that the man was fed, bathed and clothed, he talked to the man, introduced himself and asked him the man his name and what happened to him.

The man introduced himself as Lu Su, he told him the story of how he became a homeless man. He was once a rich silk merchant in Chu, in fact he became so rich that eventually he was selling his wares to royal palace. But that turned out to be his downfall. When King Kou Retsu of Chu took all of his finest silk and promised to pay a year later, Lu Su believed him and went on with his business. But when a year later Lu Su came to receive his payment, instead of paying him as promised Kou Retsu ordered his subordinate Shun Shin Kun to take care of him. Shun Shin Kun instead of paying him had ordered him to be tortured, his family executed and his property confiscated. While he was whipped he begged Shun Shin Kun to tell him why he and king were doing this to him, he was a loyal subject of Chu. The prime minister refused to meet his eyes or answer any of his pleas. After he was lashed he was thrown out of the palace, several days later he swore to heavens upon the graves of his dead family that he would have his vengeance. After that he wondered the land, a shell of the man he once was. Eventually he found himself in Kwan but was too weak from not eating for several days and collapsed and then he was found by me.

He saw Lu Su for what he was, a man consumed with hate, he knew that he could use that and channel it towards his goals. From the way Lu Su talked, held himself and the light in his eyes, he could tell that Lu Su was a smart and cunning man that wanted vengeance above all else. When Lu Su was done with his story he told him that for saving his life he had Lu Su's eternal loyalty. When Lu Su said that he looked Lu Su in the eyes and knew he was telling the truth. This made him a perfect man for creating and managing a spy network that he wanted to set up, it would encompass not only Qin but all other states as well. He told Lu Su what he wanted him to do and he told him that he will provide him with all the money he'll need to start his business again in Qin and all the expenses needed to create a spy network and to make sure others can't get any information he doesn't want them to know.

He's not sure why other people did not think of using merchants as spies, after all they are the only people that can freely and brazenly travel between states and be welcomed with open arms. When Lu Su asked him why he wanted to do something like that his answer was simple: "Knowledge is power, guard it well." From that day on Lu Su served him faithfully and set up the spy network just as he ordered him to, all the information Lu Su gave him was timely and accurate.

**Flashback** **End.**

* * *

"Hmm, now that's the lord that I know, well we found out that the initial reports were correct. Zhao **is** getting desperate and they're planning to attack Bai to cut off the supply routes. The bad news is that with Wei recently joining the fight against Qin and successfully pushing Qin forces back, it freed up a considerable amount of forces for Zhao. They're sending over 50,000 soldiers to make sure that Bai is captured quickly, then those 50,000 will quickly try to cut off the retreat for the rest of Qin forces up north. If that happens Qin forces will be trapped between a rock and a hard place and will eventually be destroyed without supplies. The good news is that Kwan is not even seen as an obstacle, they're thinking of it as a small stop. They believe that they can conquer Kwan in a few hours and then move on to Bai. They will be led by Li Chang, he's 38 and famous among his peers for his skills with a hammer. He's a newly promoted general, he will be eager to prove himself, I'm sure you can use that against him." finished Lu Su in a cheerful manner.

"When will they be here?" he asked.

"Within two days." Lu Su replied with a smile.

"Does anyone else know about this?" he asked with narrowed eyes.

"No, me and you are the only ones in Qin that know." said Lu Su with a smirk.

"Lu Su, I need you to send your fastest man to general Ou Ki and warn him about Zhao's plan. While we have great quality of soldiers, quantity has a quality of its own. And 50,000 is too much for a small city like Kwan." he said with a frown on his face.

"Already done!" Lu Su said with a smile.

"Good. I need you to get out of the city and go to Bai." he said while looking at Lu Su.

"My lord, you're not planning on telling this servant to go to safety while planning on dying, are you?" asked Lu Su in a low tone with narrowed eyes .

"Hmph, I'm sorry but I'm not that noble, I need you to go to Bai to make sure that supplies keep going out no matter what. If Bai stops sending supplies general Ou Ki won't be able to help Kwan." he said with a smirk.

"Of course, do you also want me to alert Bai's governor about the attack on Kwan?" asked Lu Su while looking at his nails.

"No, I plan to send my parents to Bai and to persuade the governor to send the reinforcments. Governor of Bai is notorious for his cowardice, my parents are the only people he'll listen to since they grew up together." said he with calm voice.

"As you command young lord. But what are you planning on doing?" asked Lu Su with a short bow.

"Why, I'm planning on becoming famous and with general Ou Ki as a witness, my chances of receiving official military post are much higher." said he with a smirk.

"But this will not be a victory without sacrifice, many of your soldiers will fall." said Lu Su in a slightly pained tone.

"Lu Su stop saying foolish things, there is no victory without sacrifice." he said in a grave voice, with his back to Lu Su.

* * *

**AN**

**Things are heating up. Please pm me or leave a review if you have any questions.**


	7. Siege of Kwan Part 1

**Chapter 6 (Updated)  
**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my original characters.**

**"Yang Jin" - dialog.**

**'Yang Jin' - thoughts.**

* * *

**Yang Jin POV**

After he persuaded his parents to go to Bai and request reinforcements, he now had to persuade civilians to take up arms and fight. He already sent out a call to all surrounding villages to quickly gather within walls of Kwan. He ordered Zhu Fa to make sure that they had enough shields, javelins, bows, arrows and food to arm and feed everyone. His plan for this battle was simple, make sure that enemies won't get on top of walls, because if they do, it's over. This will be accomplished by raining death on top of Zhao soldiers with everything they have and specifically targeting siege equipment. Just for this scenario he made sure to order blacksmiths to craft heavy javelins in large quantities. While civilians won't be able to throw them, soldiers will be able to do that with ease. He ordered Ma Cong to prepare everything for training civilians, while two days is not much, its enough to teach them how to fire bow, throw javelin and hold shield.

* * *

**Two Days Later**

Persuading villagers to take up arms and defend themselves and their families was relatively easy, since they did not want to die. Over 15,000 joined, others were too young, too old or too weak. Ma Cong and the veterans that he recruited made sure to train the civilians as much as they can. Today is the day that Lu Su said the Zhao army will reach Kwan. He was spending time tending to his horse, Kuan Ti, who he named after Chinese god of war, or it was known as Chinese god of war in the future. In more popular literature Kuan Ti is known as Guan Yu, from the Three Kingdoms warring era in China. Kuan Ti is the best horse he had seen since coming to this era, Kuan Ti is covered in black hair and not a single hair of other color.

"Lord Yang, Zhao army was just spotted. They'll be here within an hour." said Zhu Fa in a grave voice.

"I see, thank you for letting me know Zhu Fa. Prepare everyone, this will be a tough three days." he said with a frown.

"It's too bad we can only hold the enemy back and not simply annihilate them, it would do wonders for you if general Ou Ki arrived and the enemy was already taken care of." said Ma Cong. As Ma Cong said that inspiration hit him, Ma Cong was right, it would do wonders for him.

"Ma Cong, you just gave me an idea." he said looking at Ma Cong with his best sinister smirk.

"Why are you smirking at me like that? Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" asked Ma Cong with concern in his voice.

"Because you just volunteered yourself to be bait." said Zhu Fa with a smile.

"What?" said pale Ma Cong.

* * *

**Normal POV**

A few hours later our plan was complete, Ma Cong and 100 soldiers stood with him outside the main gate.

"I hate you both right now you know that right?" grumbled Ma Cong.

"You can hate us all you want just make sure you do what you're supposed to." said Zhu Fa, from his tone you could tell that he was enjoying this.

"Ma Cong, remember the plan, don't do anything reckless." said Yang Jin in a commanding voice.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it. I just gotta make sure to catch as much attention as possible right." said Ma Cong with resignation in his voice.

* * *

**Zhao army **

**Li Chang POV**

"Hmph, I told you those cowards will surrender as soon as they saw how much soldiers we had." said he to his lieutenant.

"Yes you did lord Li, but I would still advise caution." said lieutenant.

"What can they do, they got barely a thousand man." said he with an arrogant tone.

"Sir, a cornered animal will fight back twice as hard." said lieutenant with a cautious tone.

"Whatever, let's go and hear their surrender." said he. After that they rode out to meet the young looking guy with a strange armor and a war axe on his back.

"So what are your terms of surrender brat and hurry up, we got no time to waste on your tiny city." demanded he with dismissal in his voice.

"Our terms of surrender? I think you're mistaken, I rode out here to do two things. One is to see the face of the Zhao general so that later I can tell my lord what you look like so he can find you and kill you. Two is to tell you that you have no chance of taking Kwan and to tell you to turn back and run while you can." said arrogant kid.

"You little bastard, I'm a general of Zhao and you think that your lord, that is currently hiding like a coward and this tiny city can stop me?" he told him. As soon as he finished the sentence he found brat's war axe at his throat.

'He's fast, I barely even saw him move.' thought he.

"Accuse my lord of cowardice again and I'll take your head off your shoulders. My lord does not have time to waste on an insect like you, but don't worry, he'll grant you a honor of having his attention when he takes your life and destroys your army." said brat. After brat finished he turned his horse around and rode back behind the gate.

"That bastard, he dares to make fun of me, Li Chang, general of Zhao! I'll destroy him, his lord and burn this city to the ground!" he said through his gritted teeth.

"My lord Li, please calm down, he was trying to provoke you." pleaded lieutenant.

"Well guess what, he succeeded, and he will learn to regret it! Tell my army to mobilize, we'll attack immediately!" he said to lieutenant.

"Haa, as you command." said lieutenant in a resigned tone, thinking that it was useless to argue with him when he was angry like that.

* * *

**Kwan city**

**Normal POV**

"Well looks like the plan succeeded, they will attack in a few minutes." said Yang Jin as he looked at the Zhao army from the wall.

"What was that with the axe you fool, you could've ruined everything." questioned Zhu Fa with irritation clear in his voice.

"He accused our lord of cowardice, I couldn't let that insult go unchallenged!" said Ma Cong, as if he daring Zhu Fa to say he was wrong to do so.

"What! How dare he! Then why did you spare him you brute, he deserves to die a thousands death for that!" demanded Zhu Fa.

"Enough! I appreciate your concern with defending my honor as your lord, but we have no time for this. Tell soldiers to prepare, those two days will be hard on all of us." said Yang Jin with finality in his voice.

"Grrr, as you command." said Zhu Fa and Ma Cong through gritted teeth.

"Charge!" they heard Li Chang's voice.

The siege of Kwan began, the impatience of Li Chang could be seen in the fact that he threw all his troops in frontal assault in hopes of overwhelming a thousand soldiers defending Kwan.

* * *

**AN**

**What happened to all the civilians that volunteered? Will a thousand soldiers be able to hold Kwan till the reinforcements arrive? What is this plan Yang Jin talked about? Find out in the next chapter of Immovable Object.**

**Hehe, hope you enjoyed story so far, do leave a review to let me know what you think and how you think I can improve. Untill next chapter.**


	8. Siege of Kwan Part 2

**Chapter 7**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my original characters.**

* * *

**"Yang Jin" dialog.**

**'Yang Jin' thoughts.**

**Normal POV**

As Zhao soldiers approached Yang Jin wondered if his plan would work. If it worked, it would let him destroy 50,000 Zhao soldiers in a matter of three days. If it didn't work, then Kwan would be conquered and its citizens killed, since Zhao's aim is not to conquer but to destroy. But soon he had to concentrate back on the battle, Zhao soldiers started to reach the maximum range for Javelins.

"Iacera Pila! (Throw Pila/Javelins!)" commanded Yang Jin.

"Haaa!" roared soldiers of Kwan as they rained death down upon Zhao soldiers.

While defenders of Kwan rained down javelins upon Zhao forces, Zhao soldiers fired arrows upon Kwan defenders.

* * *

During this time period, javelins in all of it's forms, was not widely used by military. It was used mostly by "barbarian" tribes scattered throughout the China. Javelins were looked down upon due to their poor range compared to bow, being effective only at mid range and taking more time and resources than making bow and arrows. But what they did not realize is that what javelin lacks in range, it makes up for in pure deadliness. If thrown right, especially from elevated position, it has potential to pierce any shield and armor. And Yang Jin made sure that every one of his soldiers learned to properly throw a javelin. This fact can be heard in screams of pain that echoed throughout the battlefield and the bodies that were scattered below the walls.

* * *

But the big shield and metal armor proved their worth when most of the arrows were either blocked or bounced off. While most of the arrows were blocked, it did not mean that they were totally useless. Several Kwan soldiers that were not fast enough to put up their shields after throwing the javelin, fell prey to arrows.

"T-those bastards! Kill them! Kill them all!" screamed Li Chang after seeing and hearing his soldiers die in droves while crying out in pain.

"Keep firing! Don't stop until they retreat or you ran out of javelins, whichever comes first!" commanded Ma Cong while throwing some javelins himself.

"Zhu Fa, prepare for ladders." commanded Yang Jin while overlooking the battlefield.

"You heard our lord! Prepare for ladders!" ordered Zhu Fa while looking at his men. As soon as the ladders started to come closer to the walls, Zhu Fa and his men came to the front.

* * *

While Zhu Fa was by no means a formidable warrior in close quarters like Ma Cong and Yang Jin, he was the best marksman among the three by far. It does not matter what he used, whether it was javelin, arrows or simple rocks, he hit his target every time. The men in his unit were personally trained by him, to be as close to being as good as him as it was possible. The part of Zhu Fa and his men was crucial during this siege, their task was to take down all the ladders and any other siege equipment together with anyone who tried to operate it. They did their part splendidly, no ladders made it anywhere near the walls and any soldiers who tried to pick them back up were swiftly killed.

* * *

"General, we must retreat! We are taking heavy casualties and we can't take the city without ladders making it to the walls!" said Zhao lieutenant with plea clear in his voice.

"Grrrr, retreat." said Li Chang through gritted teeth.

"Retreat! Retreat!" commanded Zhao lieutenant with urgency in his voice. As soon as the soldiers heard the command they started to scramble to get as far away from the walls as possible. While they were trying to retreat, defenders of Kwan kept raining javelins down upon them. With their undefended backs turned to city walls, even more of them kept dying.

* * *

**Several hours later - Zhao camp**

"How many did we lose?" asked Li Chang with a sad tone lacing his voice.

"15,000 men." said lieutenant.

"15,000 men died, all because of my pride." said Li Chang with regret clear in his voice.

"We'll make them pay sir!" said lieutenant with angry voice.

"We'll make them pay indeed. Now leave me! I need some time to think." said Li Chang with dismissal in his voice.

"As you command." said lieutenant and exited the tent.

'What was I thinking? To let some brat provoke me and lose my cool? Becoming a general has clearly made me too prideful and my men paid the price in blood!' thought Li Chang as he repeatedly hit the desk.

* * *

**Same time - Kwan**

"Ma Cong, Zhu Fa, report!" commanded Yang Jin while looking at them.

"30 soldiers died right away, 45 soldiers died soon after from wounds and 35 soldiers are seriously injured and won't recover anytime soon." said Ma Cong in a sad voice.

"They did their duty. Gather their bodies and burn each one separately. Make sure to write down the names of those who died, after this battle is over I will pay personal visit to their families to give their ashes and make sure that their families are well taken care of." said Yang Jin with some warmth in his voice.

* * *

While burning bodies of soldiers to prevent spread of disease during this time was common, the situation in Kwan was different. Yang family believed that they were descendants of an ancient sun god, who was a founder and protector of their family. Due to this they burned the bodies of their dead, in this way they liberated the spirit from the body and let it ascend to the realm under the protection of sun god. This tradition was later adopted by citizens of Kwan due to being under the Yang family for so long.

* * *

"You generosity knows no bounds lord Jin." said Zhu Fa with a bow.

"Over 15,000 dead on day one, not too shabby, don't you think so Zhu Fa?" asked Ma Cong, amusement clear in his voice.

"Hmph, how did that fool become a general still puzzles me. Zhao's standards for their generals have clearly fallen, they're truly getting desperate if they let a man like Li Chang become a general." said Zhu Fa with disdain in his voice.

"We got one over him this time, don't let it go to your head." said Yang Jin reprimand clear in his voice.

"Come on lord Jin, a little pride won't hurt us." said Ma Cong in a cheerful voice.

"A little pride is how it starts and soon it grows into full blown arrogance. Li Chang thought a little pride was fine and look where it got him and his men. No, lord Jin is right, I defer to your wisdom." finished Zhu Fa with a bow towards Yang Jin.

"I'm glad you understand Zhu Fa. Now let men eat and drink to their fill, they deserved it. Just make sure that they drink no alcohol, in case there's going to be a night attack." said Yang Jin.

* * *

**Several hours later**

Yang Jin was eating and drinking with his men, hoping that seeing their commander among them will give a small boost to their morale. As they sat around the campfire Yang Jin heard a song that he remembered he taught to Ma Cong. This song brought a smile to his face, while it's meaning was anything but cheery, it helped men mourn their fallen and lifted their morale. He was sorry that he couldn't give them more time to mourn their battle brothers, but there was no time for big ceremonies. They all had to be ready at a moment's notice in case enemy attacks.

**"Another day nearer the battle**  
**So drink up lads and look brave.**  
**For another day nearer the battle**  
**Is another day nearer the grave."**

* * *

**AN**

**Hoped you like the battle this far, let me know what you think in your reviews. **

**Some of you might want to go back and read this story from the beginning, since I updated all chapters to be a bit better. Some changes are minor, some are major.**


	9. Siege Of Kwan Part 3

**Chapter 8**

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**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my original characters.**

* * *

**Next Day - Morning**

**Zhao Camp**

**Normal POV**

"How is the morale?" asked Li Chang while looking at Kwan walls.

"They are still confident that we can win this battle, they're just not sure how many will die for it." said lieutenant.

"Tch, we need to take this city by tomorrow lieutenant or we won't make it in time to Bai before their reinforcements arrive."

"I understand general. What do you want to do?" asked lieutenant.

"I noticed that they favor throwing short spears and their big shields do a good job at protecting them from our arrows. We need to either open the gate or get onto their walls. Today we will use our numerical superiority to exhaust the enemy and overwhelm them tomorrow." said Li Chang with a frown on his face.

"Shall we split our forces and have each half of our troops attack them in turns from front and back till tomorrow morning?" asked lieutenant while quesioningly looking at Li Chang.

"Yes, by this time tomorrow they'll barely have strength to stay awake not to mention carrying those big shields of theirs." said Li Chang with a smirk.

"Understood general, I shall issue orders immediately." said lieutenant with a bow and left the tent.

* * *

**Several minutes later**

**Kwan**

**Normal POV**

"Damn it, they chose the most troublesome strategy for dealing with us." said Ma Cong as he slammed his fist on the table.

"Indeed, they plan to attack us in turns till tomorrow morning and then finish us off in one go." said Zhu Fa with grimace on his face.

"No, this works in our favor or did you forget our plan?" asked Yang Jin as he sat on his chair while leaning on his right hand.

"No, its just we will lose a lot more troops this way than originally planned." said Zhu Fa.

"Also, is everything in place for our big plan?" asked Ma Cong while looking at questioningly at Zhu Fa.

"Yes, we just need to give signal."

"Excellent. Zhu Fa distrupute to the troops those mobile rations I asked you to prepare just in case, they won't have much time to rest between attacks. Ma Cong, make sure to tell soldiers that this will be a long one, at least they'll be prepared mentally. Dismissed." ordered Yang Jin.

"As you command lord Jin." said the two with a bow before going to fulfill their orders.

* * *

In a few hours the attacks started, they were extremely frustrating for the defenders of Kwan since the Zhao army sipmly harassed them from two sides in turnes. Javelins were the main ranged weapon of choice for most troops in Kwan, only a quarter were equipped with bows and knew how to use them. So it was extremely frustrating when Zhao forces made sure to stay well away from the range of javelins but still in range for their bows. While the defends who did wielded bows had the advantage since they fired from higher ground, there were too many enemies and they made sure to have shield bearers in front of their archers.

Yang Jin saw all this and understood that while he created a great infantry for engaging in field, they were not ideal for siege warfare. He swore to fix this problem as soon as the siege was over. Due to his mistake a lot of good men died without having a chance to fight back, simply hiding behind their shields and hoping that they will protect them. Over 200 men died this way, without being able to do anything.

When the time came to give signal he'll make sure to make the death of Li Chang especially painful for killing so many of his men.

* * *

**Next Day - Early Morning**

**Zhao Camp**

"Your strategy was a great success general, our enemies should be extremely exhausted by now. I'm sad to say that we still lost 3,000 men despite our best efforts, Kwan has few archers but all of them are extremely good." said lieutenant.

"Damn them all, how come I was not informed that Kwan had such a strong garrison?" asked Li Chang.

"No one knew general, Kwan is just a small town, no one even suspected that they had such a strong garrison."

"Prepare our troops, we strike at dawn."

"As you command general."

* * *

**Dawn**

**Kwan**

"Looks like they're finally going to try to finish us off lord Jin." said Zhu Fa while looking at mobilizing Zhao forces.

"Yes, finally." said Ma Cong while sharpening his war axe.

"Ma Cong, prepare out troops. Zhu Fa, ready to give signal on my command, it's time." said Yang Jin with a frown on his face as he was looking at the Zhao forces.

"CHARGE!" roared Li Chang as he pointed his hammer at Kwan.

**"HAAA!" **roared Zhao soldiers as they charged at the city.

"Prepare for ladders!" ordered Yang Jin.

"Iacera Pila! (Throw Pila/Javelin!)" ordered Ma Cong.

**"Haaa!" **roared soldiers as they rained down death upong Zhao forces.

Zhu Fa and his marksmen were picking off the soldiers who carried ladders, making sure that none of them got too close to walls. But it was no easy task, this time Li Chang made sure that ladders were well protected, they were surrounded by soldiers who carried shield. Slowly but surely, the Zhao forces were able to get to the walls and they were finally able to place the ladders. Now a lot of attention from defenders were drawn to making sure that no Zhao soldiers were able to climb on the walls. But this also made sure that Zhao forces were fully committed to taking Kwan, there was no retreat for them now.

"Zhu Fa! The signal!" ordered Yang Jin as he continued to coordinate the troops. Zhu Fa quickly went to follow the order and took out an arrow with special tip. It was an arrow which produced a loud whistling sound when fired. He aimed upwards and fired the arrow. The loud whistling sound it produced drew attention and spooked some of the Zhao soldiers who were not used to it. And while they were all looking at the arrow and trying to figure out what happened, they failed to notice the advance of a large force from their rear.

* * *

**Flashback**

"So if I got what you're saying right, you're telling me that you want all 15,000 civilian volunteers and the hundred veterans that you hired to go out of the city and stay unnoticed till the third day?" asked Ma Cong with incredulous look on his face.

"That's only part of it fool, the veterans will make sure that they will stay unnoticed till the third day while circling around to the rear of the enemy forces. After we give the signal they will attack the enemy from range while they have their back to them. 15,000 thousand people, even civilian volunteers, with bows, arrows and javelins will make sure of the swift end of our enemies." said Zhu Fa then looking toward Yang Jin.

"And while the enemy will want to disengage and go for the volunteers, we will open the gates of the city and make it irresistible for them to go for it. That's where you come in, you'll lead the unit that will hold all those Zhao soldiers that will rush for the gate. While normally this won't be possible, but if you form phalanx, you'll be able to hold them back just fine." said Yang Jin with a smirk.

Phalanx, a formation that was made legendary by both Spartans and Alexander the Great. It was a rectangular formation, usually used with spears or pikes and shields. This was one of the main formations that Yang Jin made sure his troops constantly practice. Phalanx allowed a small body of men to hold great number of enemies at bay and slowly decimate them. This formation's weak points were that it had extremely vulnerable flanks, read and took some time to set up. This weakness was made moot when phalanx was used to hold a bottleneck where the enemies couldn't attack the flanks and rear of the formation. This phalanx is what gave Yang Jin the confidence that his men will be able to hold the gate against a tide of enemies.

"I see, so what will you two do while I risk my life holding that gate?" sarcastically asked Ma Cong.

"Why, I will go for the head of the general and Zhu Fa will take down all other senior officers with his bow." said Yang Jin.

"Tch, oh well, I guess we got our plan." said Ma Cong with a smile.

**Flashback End**

* * *

"Aim, ready, FIRE!" ordered the veterans that were put in charge of civilian volunteers.

As soon as the order was given a large amount of arrows and javelins was launched at the rear of Zhao forces. By the time someone noticed it was already too late, the deadly projectiles tore into the ranks of Zhao soldiers and killed them by thousands.

"WHAT? Enemy reinforcements? Damn it, how did they get there unnoticed, what were our scouts doing?" raged Li Chang.

Unknown to him, all of his scouts were killed and replaced by the veterans before any of them were able to warn Zhao forces of the enemy at their rear. Before Li Chang can order his soldiers to turn around and take care of the enemy at the read, his lieutenant arrived.

"General Li, Kwan is opening their main gates, we should hurry our forces inside the city." said lieutenant. While Li Chang for a fleeting moment had a bad feeling about those gates, he squashed that feeling.

"Charge for the enemy gate!" ordered Li Chang.

"Hmph, they totally fell for it. Alright lads, we must hold the gates at all costs. Hear me!

Here we stand, here we die!

**Victory or death!" **

* * *

**AN**

**The next chapter is the last chapter of Siege of Kwan arc. I hope you enjoyed the story so far, please do leave a review. **


	10. Siege Of Kwan Part 4

**Chapter 9**

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**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my original characters.**

* * *

**Kwan**

**Gate**

**Normal POV**

"Ciringite Fronte! (Hold your positions!)" commanded Ma Cong.

By now all Zhao soldiers knew that the only way for them to survive was to break through the gate and hide within the city walls. Those who tried to flee into the surrounding trees but were quickly killed by either javelin or arrow. All Zhao soldiers surged to the gate, but what awaited them there was a slaughter.

A hundred Kwan soldiers formed phalanx at the gates of Kwan, with its flanks covered by the walls the soldiers in the formation had nothing to fear from their enemies. Defenders were all calm and collected, knowing that as long as they worked as one no enemy will pass them. Zhao soldiers on the other hand were in panic, they knew that the only way for them to live was through that gate. And so they tried to get to the gates as fast as they could, only death was behind. Thing is, they were already dead, they just didn't know it yet.

A wave of Zhao soldiers slammed into the Kwan phalanx, the lucky ones died from impact with shields, others were killed by spears, the unlucky few were stomped to death by their fellow soldiers. Wave after wave Zhao soldiers tried to take the gate and each time they failed. But Kwan soldiers while still holding the gate still suffered casualties, most of them from a lucky hit or an enemy spear. Ma Cong knew that this plan was a huge gamble and everything relied on him holding the gate, he will do his duty or die trying.

* * *

**Walls**

"Concentrate fire near the gate, thin their ranks!" commanded Zhu Fa.

While the enemy was swarming the gate Zhu Fa made sure that he and his men killed all the senior officers. This way they would ensure that the whole Zhao army was in chaos and did not have a chance to regroup and actually start attacking the gate in proper formation.

While the enemy was concentrated on the main gate and its wall they neglected the gate on the other side of the city. And through that gate went out Yang Jin and a hundred Kwan soldiers, all on horses. Their mission was simple, take the head of the enemy general.

* * *

**Zhao**

**Li Chang POV**

"What is going? Lieutenant, get that lot back into formation." demanded Li Chang

"I'm sorry general, but all the officers near the gate are dead and with all the forces scrambling for the gate the chain of command is broken sir." reported lieutenant.

"Damn it, I will kill that punk and burn this city to the ground even if it's the last thing I'll do." raged Li Chang.

The next moment he heard a loud impact sound from his far left and when he turned to look he saw a cavalry unit cutting their way to him. The cavalry didn't make a single sound, they were simply charging into his army's left flank and were killing everyone in their way. And as they cut their way to him, each and every one of them was silent and deadly, there was no command for charge, no war cries, only death cries of their fellow soldiers and that scared the Zhao soldiers more than anything.

What attracted the attention of Li Chang more than anything was the person leading the charge, he looked like a kid, but he definitely did not fight like one. The halberd in that person's hand was killing his soldiers in droves, with each swing more and more of his soldiers died. But what disturbed him most of all was the look in that person's eyes, he looked down upon his soldiers like they were insects and he simply swatted them away. Then that person's eyes locked on to him and he did not regard him as a worthy enemy whom he looked to slay to prove his worth. Those eyes looked at him with an eyes that a predator looks at a prey, and that pissed him off more than anything. He took his hammer from his back and charged at the insolent brat who dared to look down upon him.

* * *

**Yang Jin POV**

Some fool charged at me alone and on foot with unwieldy hammer in his hands. In my eyes he had a death wish, who am I to refuse him? As soon as he was within my reach I simply held the end of my halberd and brought it down upon his head. He raised his hammer and tried to deflect my halberd, he certainly did not expect it to cut through his weapon and bisect him. Well what can you expect, he had a simple weapon made out of iron, while my halberd was made out of high quality steel. Now, I need to go and find that general, I wonder where he is.

* * *

**Flashback**

When I commissioned my blacksmiths to create the weapons and armor for my soldiers, I did not want it to be made from pig iron or brittle steel. No, I demanded the best from my soldiers, its only fair that I gave them the best. Under my supervision, the craftsmen created the oxygen converter. When I explained to blacksmiths what it was going to do, I swear I saw some of them shed tears of joy.

The materials were inexpensive, Kwan being one of the trade hubs within Qin really helped. I made all the arrangements for the materials with Lu Su, and blacksmiths can take care of the processes needed. Kwan will have a good stock of high quality steel, there were no plans on selling this steel. During times like this, having the best quality of weapons and armor is crucial, I will not risk any of my enemies getting their hands on them.

After the first batch was completed, I made a commission for a halberd and armor for me. As long as no other enemy state gets their hands on the secret of oxygen converter, me and my army will always have an advantage.

**Flashback End**

* * *

**Several hours later**

**Normal POV**

After the last of the stragglers was killed by Ma Cong and his men, we started to gather the bodies of Zhao soldiers and pile them up outside the walls of Kwan into several huge piles. Ma Cong had a laugh at Jin's expense when Zhu Fa told him that Jin killed Li Chang at the beginning of his charge and didn't even notice. But at the same time he could understand how that happened, with all the chaos that was going on trying to find one man that you never even saw before with your own eyes is kind of hard. Lord Jin was sitting on top of the highest pile of bodies and looking towards Bai. Yang Jin was thinking about all the soldiers that died under his command, at the beginning there were a thousand and now there is barely above five hundred. His train of thought was interrupted when one of the scouts reported that reinforcements from Bai were nearing Kwan. Several minutes later a general Ou Ki and the reinforcements exited the surrounding forest and were obviously surprised that the battle was already over. Most of the senior officers were staring right at Yang Jin and he was staring right back. Several moments later Jin stood up and spread his hands and said:

**"Welcome To Kwan!"**

* * *

**AN:**

**Sorry about not updating for so long, but I had to take care of several things on my end and did not have time to write. But I did not idle around, I made sure to do research when I could and got inspiration from several fics that I read. Now the Siege of Kwan arc is over and we're getting to Home of the Brave arc. This arc will see a lot more character development and will include canon characters. So I hope you liked the story so far, leave a comment and let me know what you think.**


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